Amateurs of horror are certainly familiar with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Played by Cassandra Peterson, Elvira is a campy horror-themed TV hostess with a razor-sharp wit and an iconic gothic sense of style–her plunging black dress and beehive hairdo are immediately identifiable. She rose to fame in the early 1980s as the Movie Macabre star, a show featuring her clever, satirical, and innuendo-filled commentary on low-budget horror films.
Her popularity led her to host another type of horror show, as she became one of the caretakers of DC’s House of Mystery, the horror anthology comic book. Since then, her adventures in comics have taken a different path, as she became the protagonist of a long-running series—not just the hostess—before coming back in a pop-culture-heavy series that Dynamite regularly publishes. So today, we are taking a look at Elvira’s comics history.
The Elvira DC Comics Short Run (1986)
In 1983, after 321 comics, the DC Comics legendary horror anthology House of Mystery stopped publication. The book was however revived only a few short years later. The previous host, Cain, had been evicted and one day the replacement arrived. In Elvira’s House of Mystery #1 published in 1986 and written by Joey Cavalieri with art by Ron Wagner and Bob Oksner, Elvira is running for her life, chased by a mob of angry pitchwork-wielding people. That’s when she stumbled upon an old house and took refuge in it.
From then on, Elvira has found her destiny, taking readers from one story to the other, as a good hostess does. She was doing it with a touch of humorous and self-aware commentary, introducing tales of horror using classic tropes like ghosts and monsters, but also period pieces and some sci-fi ones. The Elvira’s House of Mystery series lasted one year, eleven issues (and one special), and naturally ended on Halloween. Cain was back and the three witches of the old comics The Witching Hour too. Elvira went away, but her comic book adventures would soon take a different turn.
Elvira, Mistress of Dark: The Marvel Movie Adaptation (1988)
In Elvira’s Post-Mortems, the letter page published at the end of most issues of Elvira’s House of Mystery, it was announced (in issue #11) that the Mistress of the Dark a movie was coming soon as Elviramania was sweeping the country. The horror comedy directed by James Signorelli came out in 1988, but it was not DC Comics that put out the companion comic book adaptation, it was Marvel.
Published in the black & white magazine Marvel Spring Special #1, this official Elvira, Mistress of Dark movie adaptation was written by Sid Jacobson and the art was from Ernie Colón. To this day, this is the only official appearance of Elvira in a comic book published by Marvel.
Claypool Comics: The Longest-Running Elvira Series (1993-2007)
Horror enthusiast Ed Via was an Elvira fan who, in the early 1990s, wanted to launch his own comic book company with his friend, then editor for Harris Publication, Richard Howell. Together, they created Claypool Comics. One of Via’s first ideas was to produce funny horror comics and this led them to contact Cassandra Peterson to talk about it. She agreed, but she only did face-to-face negotiations and, not being on the same coast, meant that was a problem. It was resolved by sending two comics writer friends, Paul Dini and Mark Evanier, who got the green light for the project.
The Elvira Mistress of the Dark comics was launched in 1993. Issue #1 was written by Dini with art by Terry Austin and James Fry III–and a backup story by Jo Duffy and Dan Spiegel. This time, it was not an anthology. Instead, Elvira was placed in wacky supernatural adventures filled with monsters, ghosts, and pop culture parodies. Inspired by her campy horror-comedy persona, the writing used her humor full of double entendres, fourth-wall breakings, and references to tell stories mixing horror, satire, and a touch of charm.
Lasting for 166 issues, the Elvira comics were written by Frank Strom, Richard Howell, Kurt Busiek, Janet Hetherington, Paul Dini, Jo Duffy, and more. Among the artists who worked on the comics, we can find names like Tom Simonton, John Heebink, Jim Mooney, Dave Cockrum, Neil Vokes, Louis LaChance, Ronn Sutton, Dan Spiegle, Fred Hembeck, and a few more.
In 2007, Claypool had to stop publishing paper comics when Diamond Comic Distributors informed the company that the publisher’s titles were not meeting Diamond’s guidelines for profitable distribution. It was decided to shift online, but the Elvira Mistress of the Dark comics ended.
Those comics are now hard to find, but Dynamite launched a collection of reprints. Two omnibuses for now are available.
- Elvira Mistress Of The Dark – The Classic Years Omnibus Vol. 1
- Elvira Mistress Of The Dark – The Classic Years Omnibus Vol. 2 (available in digital)
Dynamite Entertainment: A Modern Elvira Revival (2018-present)
After a good decade away from the world of comics, Elvira returned in 2018 in a new line of books published by Dynamite Entertainment. This new Elvira, Mistress of the Dark 12-issue comic book series was written by David Avallone, with art by Dave Acosta. Their take leaned heavily into meta-humor, time travel, and playful horror references, sending Elvira on adventures where she interacted with legendary horror figures like Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, and Bram Stoker.
After that, Dynamite has continued publishing new Elvira miniseries like a parody of The Shape of Water, a team-up with another horror legend, a trip in the Multiverse of Movies, a face-off with Vlad The Impaler, a quest for the last copy of the Necronomicon with the ghost of H.P. Lovecraft… David Avallone and the artists he collaborates with (Dave Acosta, Fran Strukan, Juan Samu, Silvia Califano, Kewber Baal) on these books have embraced Elvira’s self-aware humor, love of everything spooky with a touch of sexy, and fourth-wall-breaking antics, ensuring her comics remain as lively and irreverent as ever.
Here is the Dynamite’s Elvira Comics Reading Order:
- Elvira: Mistress Of The Dark Vol. 1
Collects Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #1-4. - Elvira: Mistress Of The Dark Vol. 2
Collects Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #5-8. - Elvira: Mistress of the Dark – Spring Special (2019, one-shot)
- Elvira: Mistress Of The Dark Vol. 3
Collects Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #9-12. - Elvira: The Shape of Elvira
Collects Elvira: The Shape of Elvira #1-4. - Elvira Mistress of the Dark: The Omega Ma’am (2021, one-shot)
- Elvira Mistress of the Dark: Wrath of Con (2021, one-shot)
- The Death of Elvira (2022, one-shot 40th anniversary special)
- Elvira Meets Vincent Price
Collects Elvira Meets Vincent Price #1-5. - Elvira in Horrorland
Collects Elvira in Horrorland #1-5. - Elvira in Monsterland (2023)
Collects Elvira in Monsterland #1-5. - Elvira Meets H.P. Lovecraft (2024)
Collects Elvira Meets H.P. Lovecraft #1-5.